Legend of Zelda Negative Forces
by 123-000
Summary: Link is on a new journey to find and destroy a magical artifact before it falls into the wrong hands. Along the way he meets a new companion who is more than she seems. Is the secret to saving Hyrule right under their noses?  Warning; violence
1. Chapter 1

The Hero of Sennohe

The hardest part of the morning was unravelling oneself from the warm blanket they slept in. It was warm in there, comfortable. Hours of shaping out a perfectly comfortable position to sleep in made it exactly where you wanted to be. Then the sun had to come up and spoil it all. On a cold morning like this as autumn crept in, the sun didn't provide any real warmth despite being so obnoxiously bright.  
>Nevertheless, it was time to start the day. It was time to push the warm blankets to one side and shiver in the cold with a mournful sigh and slight stumble. The fabric of the grey tunic was cold, so was the matching hat, and the thick boots hadn't warmed up yet as they were pulled on. Soon it would be okay, hopefully.<br>A quick look in the mirror determined that the cut-off dress, now worn as a tunic, and long hair properly hidden under her hat, she was good to go and be her village's personal hero for another day.

Legend and song of the Hero of Hyrule had spread across their whole world, even to the tiny and remote village of Sennohe. In honesty, they were so far out in the mountains and difficult to reach, they had hardly been affected by the terror that gripped the main realms.

Some of the villagers had taken to calling her The Hero of Sennohe. Being a kind hearted tomboy, she would wear her dresses short, with trousers and boots, and would often be seen running errands for the older villagers.  
>She walked into the village, stopping to pick a few wild yellow orchids on the way to take to old Mrs Riina, the apothecary.<p>

"Good Morning! I brought those orchids you asked for yesterday"  
>Mrs Riina was very tiny and very old, known among the local children as the "thousand year old woman".<br>"My Hero! th-thank you m'dear. Yes yes, these are perfect."  
>She continued to babble to herself, mixing one and a half of the flowers into a brewing potion. It changed colour after a few moments of fizzing, both the old woman and the young girl watched it intently.<br>"so what does it do?"  
>"heheh my dear, this is something very special... smell it, doesn't it smell nice little one?"<br>She leaned over and sniffed it... recoiling slightly..  
>"aaaah, perhaps too strong yet... don't worry my dear it will get less strong with time"<br>"That's interesting Mrs Riina, but what is it?"  
>The old woman played deaf and chuckled as she shambled around her small house, suddenly alert again when the girl was about to leave.<br>"here you are, for your trouble" She handed over a small box of home made treats. Adding, before she could be thanked;  
>"and keep them to yourself! Don't let that brother of yours steal them!"<br>They both laughed as the girl thanked her and made her way out into the village square. The sun was breaking through a little now, and although it was nowhere near warm, there was a slightly-less cold part of the wall around the central area to sit on. Mrs Riina's Hero sat up on the wall and opened the box of candies. No matter how old she got, these made her feel secure and happy. Old Mrs Riina was a good cook, and the bane of a lot of parent's lives, as she made candy in excess and let the village children eat it. It had never changed either as far as she knew. And one is never too old for treats.

The village was as busy as it would get for the day by the time half the box of candy was gone, and stashed back in her bag. She was guarding a pile of building tools while the stone mason took a break when He came into the village.  
>An outsider, all the way out here, was uncommon enough. One that looked so much like someone famous, was downright mind-boggling. He caught her eye and they looked at each other, not really knowing what the right reaction would be. They were dressed so similarly, one in grey, one in green. The same hat, the same tunic, legwear and boots, similar belts, and completely different possessions. One had a box of treats and a chisel, the other carried a sword and shield. The one in green was tall and strong, the one in grey was short and willowy. <p>

"What have we here then?" The stone mason was back from his drink, and his attention was immediately taken by the stranger.  
>"I was just passing –"<br>"you look a helluva lot like that Hero fella', must be you city folk's fashion.."  
>"no, I'm not from the city, actually... My name is Link" He introduced himself, still eyeing the girl who was openly gawping at him.<br>"well I'll be damned..." the man removed his hat upon hearing the name "it's an honour, come on, you must be parched! This is a mighty long way out", he patted Link roughly on the back and steered him towards the tavern.  
>He was thirsty, and hungry, and went along willingly to get some food and rest. But before disappearing into the tavern, he took another glance over at the girl that could have been his shadow.<p>

"BROTHER... BROOOTHHHEEEER" she had run home as soon as the shock wore off. "You are NOT going to believe this!" she cried into the house in general, pulling off her boots and running around to the side of the table her brother was sitting at;  
>"what?" he looked at her, focused, this had better be good, and they did love some gossip.<br>"I was in the town centre and this total stranger came in!"  
>"..what, who would come out here"<br>"NO, no, that's not the best bit! I THINK HE'S THE HERO OF HYRULE"  
>The boy's eyes widened,<br>"No Way sis, you best not be kidding me on"  
>"I'm serious, he had the outfit, all in green, and the shield with the crest on it and everything"<br>"is he still here?"  
>"yeah, at the tavern with the guys who were working on the wall"<p>

He was already pulling on his own boots,  
>"I want to see this for myself, you coming?"<br>"of course I am"

They hurried out the house back down to the walled centre. The tavern was buzzing with voices and people, in the middle of the afternoon no less!  
>"here, climb up on my back and I'll push through the crowd"<br>He was brawny, almost as brawny as his sister was slim, they had developed this method of getting through crowds some time ago. They pushed their way in, and made for the bar. The bartender, Mr Mondo, who was a good friend of the brother's greeted them.  
>"it was only a matter of time till you two got here. Apparently that stranger is the real deal, the guys have hardly given him a minute alone"<br>They turned to look, and it was true. The Hero in green was surrounded by inquisitive villagers.  
>"The usual?"<br>The brother nodded and two drinks were poured.  
>"Oh, just a glass of milk for me please," the girl corrected, "It's a bit early for alchohol for me"<br>Mr Mondo shared a laugh with her brother,  
>"True that, little one, you'd need carried home before sundown!"<br>"AGAIN", her brother added.  
>She just pulled a face at him, before turning attention back to staring at the Hero of Hyrule. It was unbelievable. It was possible it wasn't him, after all, anyone could dress like that. Anyone could have the same shield or the same sword. She wouldn't even know how to recognize a specific sword anyway. But she wanted so much to believe it was him, her hero, a REAL hero.<p>

"CMMERE..."  
>A patron of the bar broke away from the crowd and staggered over to her, he was obviously worse for wear from drink.<br>"you..youshuld.. suld meet him! OUR HEEERRROOO" he sang and laid a hand on her shoulder before stumbling back to the busy table and beconing her over.  
>She went, obediently, feeling terror and anticipation that nearly killed her when the blonde man looked up and smiled.<br>"Hi! You were the one outside earlier," he observed.  
>"y..y..yes. Hello! It's an honour to meet you, I love... I mean... all the stories and everything, wow!"<br>She was babbling, she knew it, and couldn't stop. Luckily, a drunk gentleman came to her rescue by announcing that she was;  
>"The Hero of Sennohe! Our own personal hero in the village"<br>Link grinned at her, and she pulled at her hat, suddenly horribly aware that she was very blatently imitating him.  
>"I'm not... I mean I didn't do anything like you did, I just help out and stuff..."<br>"What's your name, Oh Hero of the Village!" Link asked her, still smiling,  
>"I'm Sky!" she announced, a little confidence coming back upon realising that nobody was mocking her.<br>The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur, people came and went and the small tavern played host to everyone in the village at some point during the evening and night. All of them full of questions for the Hero of Hyrule, some questions more sensible than others. All the questions turning insensible as the night wore on. Many people commented on the 'two heroes'.  
>It was the first night of the rest of her life.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

The Hero of Sennohe 2

She had wanted to ask Link to spend the night at their house, but didn't quite have the nerve to ask. So he stayed in a room at the inn, and Sky and her brother went home giddy with excitement.  
>"Gotta say sis, I thought you had lost it a bit earlier, but he was the real deal!"<br>She beamed back at him,  
>"I can't believe I got to meet him! I CANT BELIEVE IT!"<p>

That night was sleepless. All the things she could have said, or should have done ran through her mind; much cooler ways of introducing herself, and much more intelligent answers to questions and more interesting questions to ask. It was too late now, but these things kept her awake alongside the pure rush of having met her hero.  
>There was always tomorrow. She hoped she'd get another chance to speak to him tomorrow, now that she's thought of some less idiotic things to talk about. But what if he left during the night? Famous people are mysterious like that aren't they?<br>Sky forced these thoughts out of her head and tried to sleep.

Mere moments later it was morning, cold crisp and completely unappealing compared to her warm bed. But today was one of her days of helping out at the local shop. They needed an extra hand since their own daughter had got married and moved away to be with her new husband. The pay wasn't half bad either.  
>Leggings, tunic, hat, boots... and store apron for the morning. All present and accounted for.<br>The morning was long and dull. Nobody shopped before lunch in the cold. Sky was nearly finished alphabetizing all the notes on the countertop by the time she was let loose.  
>Usually, lunch was eaten at home, but not today. Today she wanted to go into the centre of the village, on the off-chance of meeting Hyrule's Hero again.<br>She peered in the window of the tavern, just in case, but it was empty except the regulars and Mr Mondo. Taking a long route around the outskirts, she could most of the town from a mountainside road. Link didn't seem to be anywhere. Disappointment filled her heart and she pouted like a child on her way back down into the village.  
>She would come to terms with last night's meeting being a once-in a lifetime event... she told herself. On the third telling, a flash of green caught the corner of her eye. He was still here! In fact, he was just coming from the shop. Sky mentally kicked herself for taking a slightly early lunch break.<br>"Hello there!" he greeted her, before she'd composed anything to say,  
>she smiled and was forced to improvise.<br>She explained once asked that she did work here some mornings, hence the apron. Her stomach flipped a bit when he said that if he'd known that he would have waited until she was working to go in. She told him she was going to get some lunch, and asked him to join her, without even thinking about it. Miraculously, he said that yes, he was quite hungry too and would enjoy the conversation.

Once Sky came back to her senses, she realised she was sitting in the tavern, sharing lunch with the Hero of Hyrule. Not only that, but they were actually getting along!  
>"and do you know how hard it is to walk in iron boots? I didn't!" they laughed.<br>"So, I didn't even ask yet, what are you doing out here? I mean, are you staying long?" Sky asked, taking her opportunity.  
>"Oh, I'm looking for something... actually that's supposed to be a myth around here. Maybe you've heard of it" Link described a pendant, supposedly made by a witch, that would make the wearer immortal. It had to be found, and preferably destroyed, before it fell into the wrong hands. Naturally, the wrong hands were also searching for it as they spoke.<br>"do you mean The Old Smoke Crystal?" Sky asked, it was a story told to children in the village that sounded very much like the thing Link was looking for.  
>"Old smoke crystal?"<br>"Yes, it's kind of a legend... there's a song too that children sing, it goes;  
>Old as a dragon's eye<br>Old you get but never die  
>Smokey she goes up in flames<br>Old smokey lives again" Sky sang the nursery rhyme to the best of her memory.  
>"Old Smokey is the dragon that's supposed to live in the mountain to the north, the crystal keeps her alive"<br>"That sounds like my next stop then" Link stated, writing down some notes on severely crumpled parchment from his bag.  
>"Any idea how to get there?"<br>Sky looked at him across the table, terrified that she'd given him a reason to leave, but still happy she'd been useful.  
>"I could take you there?" she offered, hopefully. Link leaned back and looked at her,<br>"it's dangerous, you might get hurt. I can't risk..."  
>she cut him off "I can though. Maybe you can't risk it, but I can if I want. I've been to the mountain base before, you'd be much faster with me guiding you!"<br>There was a battle of wills across the table before both faces broke into matching smiles.  
>"I could use the company, and your expertise in the area" he said,<br>Sky just beamed at him. THIS is what she'd been waiting for her whole life, or so it felt. This is what she'd always wanted, always needed. This, she had never even imagined would really happen to her.

After eating, she drew out a basic map of the area they were going to, just for reference's sake. They went to pay Old Mrs Riima a visit too, for potions and medical wares. Just in case. She didn't question them about where they were going, or ask why they would need such potions. Such was the old woman's way, she seemed to already know. That's why it came as no surprise when she put the fizzing potion from the day before into Sky's bag, took her hand and told her to look after herself.  
>She leaned down and hugged the old woman.<br>"I'm not going far, just up to the mountain. I'll be back"  
>Riima's old face crinkled with smile lines; "a short journey in distance maybe, but shorter journeys have changed many people".<br>Sky returned the smile, and laughed a little at the drama of it, before returning back outside to meet her hero again.  
>They had deliberately saved the hard part for last. Without acknowledging it or planning to, they'd done everything they could possibly do to prepare for the trip before Sky had to go and tell her family where she was going.<p>

"You can't be serious?" her Mother was horrified. "You are not nearly strong enough to go so far!"  
>"I am mother, it's only to the mountain and back! I've been before"<br>"but that was in a group, and with many more, stronger people! No offence" she tacked on, turning to Link, to apologize for implying he was in any way weak.  
>"She's only going to the mountain, Ma. And with the best guard you could dream of" her brother piped up. He always had her back in arguments against their parents.<br>"He's not a guard and I'd be fine anyway" Sky spouted, a little too indignantly that got a snicker out of afore mentioned 'guard'.  
>"What are you even going to DO up there?" she quizzed her daughter, and was treated to the whole story about the Old Smoke Crystal. "That involves being IN the volcano, and make no mistake young lady, that is a volcano up there not just a mountain, you said you'd only be going to the foot of it"<br>"Well I will! I'm showing Link the way up there, then he can continue his adventure.."  
>"So you travel back alone?"<br>Damn. Her mothering senses were too strong.  
>"Ma, calm down"<br>"Ruby, I think we should let her do this"; Sky's father pitched in.  
>The argument continued for a long time, during which Sky apologized to Link far too many times, but he didn't seem to be put off her tagging along in any way.<br>"Alright", her mother eventually concieded; "I'm sorry I was overbearing, you need your freedom. Just please, look after yourself" she hugged her daughter tightly, and turned to Link "and you look after her also! I know you're not a guard, but do try."  
>He nodded mutely.<br>"Bye sis, see ya in a couple of days. By the way, can I have the rest of those candies...?"  
>"Look after yourself little one, and have fun!"<br>Sky grinned at her family, "you'll barely know I'm gone!"  
>Just as they left the house to get started up the mountain road, Sky stopped and went back into the house.<br>She snatched the candy box from the table, and split the contents between her and her brother.  
>"You may have HALF"<br>And she set out for the second time. 


	3. Chapter 3

Hero of Sennohe 2

"Aren't you cold?" Sky asked. They had been walking up the mountain path in silence for almost an hour and the weather was taking a turn for the worse.  
>"Not really no-" Link's defence was cut off by a sneeze, "yeah, a little bit."<br>"I have some spare things in my bag... though my dress might not fit..."  
>"I have two other tunics with me" Link said, as if this had only just come to him.<br>"Put them on then!" Sky exclaimed "layer up if you're cold! Haha, didn't your mother ever drum that into your mind every winter?"  
>"Actually I never knew my mother..." Link broke to her, quietly.<br>"Oh.. oh I'm sorry" Sky kicked herself inwardly for how insensitive she had been. She'd been trying so hard to be friends too. The next few minutes dragged on in awkward silence until they reached a small steep ledge that had to be climbed.  
>"Up here" Sky showed the way, climbing carefully up the ledge.<br>Link just hoisted himself up, then helped her up after him.  
>"Show off" She smiled, letting him know she was joking with him, and got a smile in return.<br>As the day wore on, and they trekked through the mountainside wilderness towards the rising smoke, the air became heavy and warm. Soon, it felt like spring rather than autumn. As they approached the volcano, the surrounding rocks became hot to the touch and the ground warmed the soles of their feet through their boots.  
>"Uuwwaaa, it's so hot up here" Sky whined, pulling her outermost layer off, to be dressed in just her white undershirt and leggings.<br>"You're a mountain-girl through and through then? Can't take the heat?" Link teased her, although he too was flushed and looking warm.  
>"hey, feel this" he said, handing her the hilt of his sword.<br>She did, and quickly recoiled when the metal burned her hand.  
>"OW... what was that for?"<br>"Sorry... I don't know really. Just wanted to show you how hot it was."

The volcano was looming over them now, a small dusty trail lead off up to the right. The small clearing they were in was as far as Sky had been before, and suddenly the terror of having to let her dream-adventure end hit like a bolt of lightning.  
>"H..hey, it's pretty dangerous to go further, so maybe we should rest for the night here then we'll be good to go in the morning?"<br>Link paused to consider this, he seemed torn between wanting to continue, and being quite exhausted. Eventually he agreed to camp for the night and continue in the morning. This close to the volcano, even night wasn't too cold, despite the time of year. By the light of the fire the colossal mountain seemed more imposing than ever. Intimidating but impressive.  
>"Earlier, you said "we"..." Link spoke, and looked at his frail companion appraisingly. "I think, I think it would be best if I went into the volcano alone." He said.<br>"oh.." It made sense, and she knew that. She was no fighter, and had never been inside before and so couldn't help with directions. She also knew that he meant no insult to her, but it still stung a little to be pushed back like that.  
>"It's not like I won't come back though!" Link spouted quickly as Sky's face obviously fell, "I could use your help getting back to the village, but if you don't want to wait out here, I could meet you back there once you're home."<br>"Yeah... yes, that'd be nice" Sky smiled, trying to force more contentment to show on her face than she felt inside. "I don't mind waiting".  
>With that, the two heroes curled up to sleep.<p>

It was black as pitch when Sky awoke. The fire had not long since burnt out, and the silence of the night surrounded her completely. It was also terribly, terribly lonely. She looked over to Link, and started. He was gone.  
>She looked wildly around, there was plenty sign he had been there, so she had not hallucinated the whole thing. There was his shape in the cracked ground where he had lain, and the obvious marks of sword and boots. Footprints too, leading up the path. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, they became more and more apparent. He had left for the volcano already.<br>Without thinking any further, she ran up the mountain side trail herself. In the back of her mind she knew it was stupid, that she should just stay by the fire and sleep until morning, but her legs were still running. The chisel she had in her bag from the two days ago at the stone mason's found its way into her hand, in absence of any other weapon, and she kept climbing and hoping not to run into anything dangerous.  
>She took to dodging monsters that were crawling around as it was safer, and faster than trying to fight them off with a chisel. Taking more than a few bites and scratches to the arms and legs from what felt like spiders and other things she couldn't identify in the dark, Sky made her way to a small hole in the mountainside that lead inwards.<br>Inside was blisteringly hot, and if not for the embers all around the place, as dark as the night outside. Sky shivered despite the heat. The oppressive atmosphere was frightening, and even more so were the bodies of the creatures that had once lived in this place lying around the floors. There were keese, there were rope, and other sliced bodies of things she had never seen before.  
>Climbing her way through the almost silent dungeon, the comfort of finding signs of Link started to wear off. These were the corpses of living things. True, they were all sliced by a sword, and that lead her to believe that Link was here somewhere. But on the other hand, she seemed to be alone in a volcano, surrounded by the bloody carcases of increasingly horrifying monsters... all alone... just her and the bodies. They were beginning to look more and more menacing, as if they might rise up again and attack her, despite being brutalized. Sky wielded her chisel at the bodies with an increasingly shaking hand and continued on through the dungeon.<p>

CRASH

Something nearby smashed loudly, startling her further. She ran towards the noise, despite her rational mind telling her to leave it well alone.  
>"LINK!" She cried out, spotting the man in green at the other side of a long hall from where she was. The floor tiles themselves were raising out of the ground and shrieking through the air at his head. Her cry caught his attention, and in the split second he looked to her, a stone tile cracked him fully on the head and knocked him unconscious.<br>Sky's wits just about left her when she saw Link crumple to the floor, bleeding from one side of his face. At the same time, she became prime target for the deadly flooring, and tile after tile came whistling down the hall at her. She dodged them, it was all there was to do, a small chisel was never going to smash them or protect her from them. As the flurry slowed, she saw Link start to sit up. Her heart lifted with him, until he doubled back over, holding his head, and she saw the thing behind him.  
>"LINK... LINK... BEHIND YOU"<br>A huge wobbling maggot-like...thing... was oozing its way up Link's legs. Soon, it had all but swallowed him whole. He seemed to be doing his best to fight it from the inside, but the thing wasn't giving him up. Sky ran over and tried to pull Link out. Of course he was too heavy for her, and the monster was much too strong. Panic set in and she snapped. She was barely aware of hearing Link's voice speak to her as she grabbed her chisel and started hacking away at the monster. Hack, hack, hack. It didn't respond much at first, but soon she was under the first layer of thick skin and it was pouring slime and blood onto the floor. Hack, hack, hack. She had to get him out of this thing, if she hadn't distracted him, if she hadn't got him knocked out, if she had just stayed at the camp... hack, hack, hack.  
>Sky felt no more resistance from the LikeLike she was now mindlessly mauling, but couldn't stop. She felt two strong arms under hers lift her away from the unrecognizable pile of flesh. The panic subsided and her head began to clear as the scene around her came into focus. She moved to get out of the iron grip that was holding her. Link didn't let go.<br>"Calmed down yet?" he asked, after she stopped struggling.  
>"yes, yes. I'm sorry! I shouldn't have, I mean, if I had just stayed... oh god..." she looked at the mess around them "oh god I'm so sorry", Link put one arm around her waist and helped her sit down to catch her breath.<br>"What are you doing here?" He asked her, a little more sharply than he had intended.  
>She explained how she had woken up to find him gone, and come looking for him, following the trail of monsterous cadavers.<br>"I TOLD you to wait didn't I? If you hadn't distracted me I would have been fine"  
>"I know! I'm sorry, I really am".<br>"What a mess..." Link said, looking around them, and feeling the damage he'd taken from the flying floor tile. Luckily it hadn't hit him as badly as it had appeared from far away, it had only knocked his ear, but there was still a nasty looking wound up the inside from it. Still looking at the remnants around them, he gently prized the chisel out of Sky's desperate clutch and slid it across the floor away from them.  
>"Come on", he said gently, and lead her by the hand deeper into the volcano.<br>There wasn't far to go before the heat became unbearable and they stood on the very top edge, looking down into the chasm of molten rock. Sky had been bidden to stay back from fights and keep herself safe, since the incident with the LikeLike she had taken to doing as she was told.

"Old Smokey" may have been thousands of years old, but she was still a dragon, young for a dragon, and angry, even for a dragon. Like all dragons with treasures to protect, she wasn't giving up the crystal without a fight.  
>Sky kept her head down while Link fought the beast face to face. He didn't seem bothered at all by the situation, not even worried. That was the most impressive thing to her. Link ran around the edge of the mountaintop until stopping to aim a shot from his bow. Old Smokey reared her head and was about to let loose a fireball on him when the tiniest distraction moved her. A rock, thrown at her eye, she was distracted and took Link's arrow straight into the roof of her mouth. With a tooth-rattling roar, the dragon turned on Sky and slashed with her front claws. Not intended to be a deadly attack, just a small bat by dragon standards, but she ripped open the soft flesh of Sky's thigh. Link had run round to defend Sky, just too late to prevent the damage, and just in time to take the brunt of Smokey's other claw across his back. He stayed crouched over Sky to protect her from further harm and fired another arrow into the dragon's soft palette. After another few shots, Old Smokey sank back down beneath the lava, leaving her treasure for the taking. It wasn't an impressive thing, in honestly it could have been any lump of blackened glass. But there was a shine to it, inside, that gave away its real value.<p>

Link carried Sky down off the volcano. She couldn't stand with her leg in such a state, and was delirious from blood loss. He knew how to fix it though, all they needed was a faerie fountain. He also knew that there was always one nearby, one could rely on that sort of thing. Sure enough, just beyond the mountain was a secret entrance to an underground fountain, full of the light and magic of the fae.  
>Link walked into the water carrying Sky. Feeling his wounds heal, he let her go so that she might stand on her own again. But she just floated on the surface of the water. His wounds healed, hers did not. The faeries around them whispered to him;<br>"not this one, not this one. We cannot do anything for this one"  
>"Why?" he asked, not expecting an answer. No answer came. He checked her breathing to make sure she was alive, and cleaned the wound as best he could despite there being no magic in it for her before lifting her over one shoulder and carrying her back out of the underground cave.<p>

They were back at their camping spot, and evening was approaching by the time Sky started to wake. She asked what had happened, and he gave her the gist of it, tactfully leaving out the rejection of the faeries.  
>"So we came back here, and then the owl came and saw I had the Smoke Crystal. He told me it will not work on its own, there are three other things needed to make the immortality charm"<br>Sky raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, "an owl?"  
>He nodded as if this was normal, and continued, "There's a Glass Claw that holds the crystal, somewhere under the ocean, and a Glass Hand that holds it on the other side... see?" Link held the crystal up to show her the indentations on it, it did indeed have marks for what looked like a claw and a hand to hold it from either side.<br>"Then what? You said three more things"  
>"This is the part I don't get, the owl said something about the whole of the triforce being needed to activate it. But we don't need to do that, we need to make sure that doesn't happen, I think."<br>"So an Owl came and told you all of this?"  
>"Yes."<br>"You're a little crazy you know that?" She grinned at Link. He didn't return her good cheer, instead commenting "what about you? Earlier, with the LikeLike... that was more than a little crazy".  
>Sky's face fell and she couldn't keep eye contact with Link after he'd mentioned that.<br>"That was... I don't know, I was just frightened".  
>Seeing how it troubled her prevented him from pressing the subject and he let it go.<p>

The next morning they woke early and set off for the village. Sky broke a sturdy fallen branch to the right size to use as a walking stick, as her leg was far from healed. It was a slow process, getting back through the wilderness, especially with the ever gathering chill closing in on their heels. A stark awakening after the dry heat of the volcano.  
>"Do you want me to carry you?" Link offered to Sky, as she limped along very slowly, "hop up on my back, or we might not get you home before NEXT winter!" he teased.<br>"Don't be cheeky!" she retorted, giving him a playful slap with her stick "I'm doing my best here". Despite the cold, and injuries, the rush of having simply survived kicked in and made the otherwise painful walk home very enjoyable.  
>"come here" Link offered again to carry her, and she took him up on the offer this time,<br>"Giddy up!" Sky laughed, from her seat perched on her Heroes back. He just laughed and carried on walking down the trail at a now normal pace.


	4. Chapter 4

Negative Forces 3

Link and Sky, the pair in hero's garb, were winding their way back to Sky's home village. Link had the scrawny girl on his back; her leg wounded from their encounter with Old Smokey the dragon and bandaged up. Still bleeding a little it was bound as best as they could manage with what supplies they had.  
>"It wasn't a total disaster, I got the crystal" the hylian hero comforted her for what felt like the thousandth time. She had been less than helpful and kept apologizing. In a way, it was sweet, but it was becoming distressing not being able to convince her that it really wasn't a total disaster. Admittedly it could have been better, and would have gone better if she had simply stayed out of the way. Despite that, he appreciated her effort to help him.<br>"It was brave of you to come in and find me, knowing the danger" he told her "a bit reckless considering how unprepared..." he left that sentence hanging, realising that she'd grown tense again. Tact was not his strongest quality. Swordsmanship, yes, fighting monsters and saving people and artefacts, yes, he had lots of qualities, and was happy with them, but tact and subtlety were not among them. Sky tensed at the mention of her conduct in the volcano. The very memory was embarrassing and terrifying, knowing she had been so useless and in fact such a hindrance to her hero was a wound far more raw and stinging than the claw gashes that tore across her legs. Her eyes burned at the corners as she willed herself not to cry, not to be even more pathetic than she already had been. She shifted herself uncomfortably against Link's warm back. Her leg wound was starting to throb and it was pulsing right through her body and head, causing no small amount of nausea. Had there been anything in her, she would have vomited when Link lurched to one side and drew his sword. Sky's head swam and her leg throbbed.  
>"Hold on and stay quiet" he advised her.<br>There was a crackling in the undergrowth. Dry, dead plant life, rocks and cracked, dry mountain path made someone's footsteps audible. Link ducked off the path and kept a safe distance while staying within range to hear where the other person was. They had circled around behind him before recognizing the figure.  
>"Hey!" Sky shouted to the figure, waving with one hand.<br>"Sky!" Her brother came barrelling back down the path towards them. "what happened? Your leg..." the blood drained from his face and he shot Link a disapproving look. Link let the wounded girl down to greet her brother and the three of them sat down to rest.  
>"Sky, you can't go-"<br>"It was amazing! Link fought the old dragon. I got hurt, but it's not too bad. We got the crystal he was looking for and everything" She cut him off.  
>"Sky, listen, you can't go home" her brother's serious stone and stony face took the wind out her sails.<br>"What?" both she and Link sat up, alert.  
>"What happened?" Link asked, with a dark look behind his eyes that suggested he might already know, but needed to hear it from the horse's mouth to be sure.<br>"They came yesterday afternoon, lots of them, all in armour. Looking for you" he nodded to Link. "Someone told one of 'em where you had gone. I said nothing! I swear! I could tell they were bad news. But they knew you had been through our village and seemed to already know you'd be headed for the volcano. They've ransacked the place, beating people up to get more information. Anyone that's been near you or seen you got the same treatment" He said again, directed at Link, whose face had fallen completely and a haunted look came to his eyes.  
>"I'm so sorry, I didn't know they were this close behind me, I didn't-" Link wasn't allowed to finish what he was saying before Sky's brother turned to her,<br>"Mam told me to come and find you, we don't think they know anyone from the village went with him up to the volcano, but if you suddenly turn up, or they figure it out, they'll show no mercy to get what information they can out of you. So... as much it hurts to say it... you can't come home Sky. Go, go down off the mountains and find somewhere to stay until it is safe." The large boy gripped his diminutive sister in a powerful embrace.  
>The three sat in silence for a long time. Sky chewed over everything she had heard.<br>"Okay" she said, at long last. The two boys looked up to meet her eyes. "They don't know I even exist, and it's better that way. I can't come home, but I'll find somewhere to stay. Tell Mam and Pa that I'm safe, and that I'll see them again..." her voice became smaller and smaller as she spoke and eventually cracked over the last few words. Tears poured down her face. Before he could get near to comfort her, quick as a shot, Link had an arm around her. Sky turned and leaned her forehead on his shoulder, choking and coughing, trying hard to stop the tears.  
>"You won't be alone" he said resolutely, gaining the attention of both siblings. "I'll make sure you are safe, and that once all this is resolved, you can come again. I'll make sure of it personally." Link looked at the girl dead in the eyes as he spoke.<br>"Eh... right. Good!" Sky's brother looked on awkwardly before helping her back up onto Link's back, and hugging them both tight. "I'll see ya soon little one" he said with a smile to his sister, and to Link "I'm trusting you, go be a hero and all that cool stuff you do, then bring her back. Okay?"  
>They shook hands and nodded to each other before he shambled back off down the path toward the village. Without another word, Link left the path and carried Sky down the steep mountainside, into a completely unknown area to both of them. As they passed by under where the village was, there was the distinct rattle of chains, clank of armour, and abusive shouts from varying distances. An aura of danger and dread shrouded the whole area, making them both feel like naught but mice trying not to be seen by a Lion.<br>By nightfall they had reached a small town in a valley. It was surprisingly damp and green, despite being at the foot of a mountain range topped by a volcano. This was Penyo Town. The two of them felt a wave of relief upon seeing an Inn not far from the town gates and went there immediately.  
>"Good Evening, what can I do for you?" The girl behind the reception desk greeted them traditionally before looking up. Her eyes took in the bedraggled pair in front of her and she sprung into action. "FAERN!" she shouted through a curtain behind her, "we need you up here!" there was a sound of heavy footfalls coming up stairs as the girl helped Sky off Link's back and lay her down across some seats. A large man with a rosey nose appeared, and immediately began to panic.<br>"Calm down Faern, take them up stairs to the big empty room and I'll be there in a minute"  
>The large man did as he was told, scooping up Sky in his strong arms and crashing up the stairs.<br>"Leave your things, I'll bring them up to you, go with her now" the girl waved Link on, before he had a chance to pick up the various heavy belongings he'd let slip out of his grip upon arrival. The innkeeper girl was short and stout, and not one to be argued with. Link scampered up the stairs to find where the man had taken Sky.  
>They were in a large room at the end of the corridor. Sky was lain out on the bed there, her wound had opened again at some point in the day and she was feverish.<br>"Sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself. I'm Faern" the man said, shaking Link's hand in his own massive paw."  
>"Link", he replied.<br>"My daughter should be up any moment. She's good at medicine you know, will have your lady here fixed up in no time."  
>"She's not my –" Link was going to protest before the girl bustled in with a basket of medical supplies and a bucket of water. She was followed closely by a boy, who looked vastly similar to her, who dropped off Link's things before scurrying away again.<br>"Hold this on her head" she directed her father to press a cold cloth to Sky's forehead,  
>"Sir, if you don't mind, help me untie the dressing on her leg so I can clean the wound" she asked of Link. He obliged, and did his best to be gentlemanly. He didn't want Sky to think him a pervert or something, but she DID need help, and the two kind innkeepers were under the impression that he had presumably seen her bare legs and underthings before.<br>He tried to keep the guilt he felt from flooding his mind. It was his fault she was in this state, and no two ways about it. He had taken her to the volcano. He had brought the dark enemy to her village.  
>Looking at the frail thing lying on the inn bed, he could hardly imagine her chatting and singing they was she had on the first night they met in the tavern, much less teaching him old folk tales of the mountains and sharing lunch the next cold afternoon.<br>The part that was most difficult to take in was that all this had happened in less than a week. Link promised himself then and there that he would put things right again for her and her village.  
>"I see you're awful worried sir, your lady here needs her sleep, how about a drink in the bar downstairs?" The innkeeper's daughter patted him on the shoulder, startling him out of his reverie.<br>"No, thank you" he declined. Being exhausted himself, he decided just to sleep also.  
>"Right you are Sir," she nodded, "I'll leave this water and cloth with you, if she wakes feverish in the night, wet her head and give me a shout, you hear?"<br>With that, the father and daughter bustled out of the room, leaving Link to a much-needed rest. While pulling off his boots it occurred to him that there was only one bed. The innkeepers, assuming they were a couple, had given them a double room. This only just occurred to him, as his attention had been elsewhere previously. Deciding it was too late to do anything about it, Link pulled off his gloves after his boots and slept clothed.

When he woke, the sun was already high. Sky was tossing and turning, still asleep, but uncomfortable. He remembered his instructions and soaked the cloth that had been left in the water, and pressed it to her forehead. She settled almost immediately. Link afforded himself a smile, pleased with that good result, and started around the room gathering his things. Gloves, boots, sword, shield, an empty bottle (just in case), and the pitiful few rupees he had.  
>He set off to explore the town, and maybe hear some more of the legend of Old Smokey the dragon, and the treasure she guarded. True, he had her part of it, but he also had no idea where to begin looking for the claw and the hand. The owl's information had been of hardly any use.<p>

Having seen Link leave, the innkeeper's daughter had gone upstairs to check on her patient, Sky. She checked her temperature, and re-applied the cold cloth. Sky looked up at her foggily.  
>"Wh..."<br>"He's popped out for a bit love, you're in Penyo Town, got a nasty gash on your leg there but I've bandaged it up good and tight for you. Fever's going down nicely too, right as rain in no time I recon!"  
>"Thank you, really, thank you"<br>"That's no problem, couldn't leave you in the mess you were in, I'll bring some tea up to you shall I?" the slightly older girl didn't wait for a reply before leaving the room and clattering back down the hallway.  
>Sky took in her surroundings. The pain in her leg was immense when she moved, but was otherwise better than it had been. Clean bandages, on clean bedsheets. She noticed she was wearing a clean white underdress too. She saw some of Link's things scattered around at the foot of the bed, presumably that he didn't need for wherever he was just now, and she noticed that she was in the only bed in the room.<br>Dragging herself up onto her elbows, she caught her own reflection in the bucket of water by the bed and grimaced. Her hair was no longer held back, and the new underdress was all together too long to be practical. However, she had nothing to wear under her usual cut-off 'tunic' and nothing to tie her hair with.  
>The stout girl came back with a tray of tea and simple foods for Sky. She looked at them hungrily, before realising it would be prudent to ask how much this would cost her. She had some money on her, but realised that she'd have to be pretty careful with it if she was to survive,<br>"oh no, no love, we couldn't very well leave you to your own devices so it wouldn't be fair to ask full price. I can't ask for nothing, we need to live too of course, but I'll charge half price and if you recommend our inn to anyone else you know travelling through we'll call it even?"  
>"You have a deal" Sky felt her face bend into a familiar grin that she hadn't felt in days.<br>"Now, I've left some medicine out for you, but only take it if you can eat something first or you'll give yourself a sour stomach" she advised, Sky agreed, and was left to her own devices.

Link had no idea how much time had passed, but the morning had been something of a success. He'd spoken to nearly everyone he'd passed in town and found out that "Old Smokey" wasn't the only dragon the folks around here talked about. According to the valley people, the dragon in the volcano had a sister dragon, deep underground in a bottomless cavern.  
>From what he'd gathered from local children, was that there was several songs about the treasures he was looking for. "The Grave Claw" was underground, supposedly buried with the dragon that slept down there. According to the old folks in town, the Hand was on an island far out at sea, put there by the great faeries themselves to prevent the two dragons from continuing their fight over the three pieces of the immortality amulet. A lot of them believed that the dragon in the underground cavern was already dead, it was only underground because it had been buried, and the treasure buried with it.<p>

By the time he got back to the Inn, evening was approaching. Sky was standing in the middle of their room, her hair chopped haphazardly short and scattered around the floor, sawing at the hem of her dress to shorten it.  
>"Sky?" Link asked tentatively, a little worried that she had snapped again.<br>"Link!" She turned and smiled at him, "I got some medicine and my leg feels much better. I borrowed this old dagger, I hope you don't mind." He saw she was holding a rusty old knife he didn't remember ever having and threw her her dark grey tunic, to put on over the newly cut-off undershirt.  
>They sat on the bed to catch up on the day, Link shared all the information he'd gleaned from the townsfolk and they decided to move on to the next proper city. Whoever had followed Link to Sennohe would be catching on by now that he wasn't there anymore, and this would likely be their next stop. Neither of them wanted to be there to greet them and the sooner they get going, the better. It was a long walk down off the last of the mountains before they reached Hyrule field. Neither of them felt like stopping. Sky insisted that her leg was feeling better, and besides, she wanted to practice defending herself.<br>"You'd be better with this then" Link said, offering her a short sword that was much too small for him, but only a tiny bit too short for her. "That rusty knife won't do you much good."  
>"Thanks!" Sky smiled up at him, in spite of herself she was a little giddy that her idol had given her a gift. But she kept a sober expression and tried to look like she knew how to handle it. They walked across the field towards the castle city, despite the night, not a single creature or monster was to be seen or heard. They approached the castle walls as the sun rose and went inside to watch the people set up the market. Link offered to buy them both some food and went off to the nearest fruit stall. Sky used the time alone to check her wounds. She hissed a little at the pain when peeling back the bandage. It wasn't bad at all anymore, just a little messy looking.<br>"If that still hurts you should have said something!" Link spoke from behind, startling her.  
>"Ah! No, no. It's not that bad. I was just checking it" she defended her strength.<br>He sat down next to her and divided up the various foodstuffs between them.  
>"Where did you get the rupees for all this?" Sky laughed, taken aback,<br>"I found them" Link replied through a mouthful of bread,  
>"you found them?" she quizzed, looking sceptically at him.<br>"yep!" He replied, turning away from her slightly and offering no further explaination.  
>Fine, she could press it further, but showed more loyalty to her grumbling stomach and ate.<p>

Stomachs full, and a little energy restored after their long night's walking, they made for a small library Link remembered passing once while in the city. His directions were somewhat lacking, and it took them a long while, but eventually they found the tiny place they were looking for.  
>It was small and dusty. There was nobody else in there. It was populated entirely by books. Link and Sky knew what they were looking for.<br>"Got it!" an hour or so into their search, Sky held a book over her head and waved it around so that Link might see where she was in the avalanche of paper. He found her, and let her show him what she'd found.  
>"This is the story about the two dragons. It says there were two dragons, and four faeries. The two dragons fought over the three artefacts, and the four faeries tried to prevent them. Then one of the faeries took all three artefacts for herself, claiming it was to keep them safe and away from the dragons, but she actually intended to use them, and was executed for her betrayal."<br>"Four faeries?"  
>"Yeah, but there's no mention of four faeries in any of the books about the three great faeries, so I don't know anything else about them"<br>"I'll ask one of them" Link said without thinking. Sky just looked at him, unsure if she'd heard him correctly. Whether she decided she hadn't, or recalled that this was the same guy that said an owl had come to talk to him, she let it be at that. "This picture looks like a graveyard, is that where the Claw is buried?"  
>"Yes, I think so," Sky agreed, "and here, this is the coastline from which you cans see the island the Hand is on. Do you still have that blank parchment on you?" She recalled from the second day they'd met. Link pulled the crumpled paper out of his bag and handed it to her. Sky scribbled down some details and re-drew the locations in the book. "That'll make life easier for us", she said, pleased with herself, and motioned to hand the papers back.<br>"You hang on to those," Link said, refusing to take the papers back, "you're coming with me."  
>"What? I can't come with you, I'll hold you back so much..."<br>"No" Link stated bluntly "you're good at maps and stuff, and we can practice with that sword so you can defend yourself. I don't want to be worrying about what might be happening to you while I'm away. So come with me."  
>The look in his eyes was intense, as if he just couldn't imagine things going any other way. Sky agreed to accompany him. She looked straight back into his stare and felt absolute terror at the prospect of the dangers ahead, absolute joy that The Hero of Hyrule wanted her with him, would worry about her, and something else entirely making her throat dry and her knees quake more with every passing moment they held each other's gaze.<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Negative Forces 4

The next day, the pair woke late. After walking all the previous night, and spending all day in the city they hadn't a spark of energy between them. By noon they had plans laid out to go to the coast and find a map of the surrounding sea and locate the island they were looking for. On their way, Sky practiced her swordsmanship with Link's expert guidance. She was still clumsy, but could probably keep herself alive if needs be, and that was good enough for now. He was almost impressed by the progress she'd made until the sword slipped clean out of her hand and clattered against a cliffside with a hollow rattle. Sky jumped, and ducked, and then stood up straight and looked at Link with deliberately comical nonchalance. He couldn't help laughing, she seemed to be less awkward and embarrassed when he joined in with her making a joke of her own mishaps. She giggled, and went to pick up her sword. Standing by the cliff face where the sword had hit, Sky pressed her ear against the rock and tapped;  
>'ting, ting ting'<br>"This bit is hollow! There's a cave in there!" she seemed amazed be her own discovery.  
>"Stand back little one," Link had adopted the nickname her family had called her by, and picked her up under one arm and rolled a lit bomb at the wall. Ducking behind a hillock, they only heard the blast. They looked over the hill at the newly opened maw in the once rough cliff side.<p>

Link walked slowly in through the mouth of the cave, Sky kept close behind him. Inside was a fairly deep hole, with various ledges sticking out of its walls. It would be simple enough to climb down. But there was no telling what was down there in the dark.  
>"HAH" Sky's cry shattered the silence, and Link jumped round to see what had happened,<br>she had been attacked by something reaching down from the ceiling, and swung at it. The thing was nothing more than a large spider, but it was quite deftly sliced down one side. Sky prodded the thing's body to make sure it was dead then turned back to face Link. Seeing no horror in his eyes, she relaxed a little.  
>He looked at her, and felt a swell of pride. He'd taught her that! He complimented her quick response and recommended that they stay side by side further into the dark chasm. In the vanishing light, her determined frown of concentration really looked like the face of expertise. Between them they made short work of the small and even medium sized enemies that were crawling out of the dark to assail them. At the bottom of the pit they were making their way almost entirely by touch when something not made of rock or stone was in their path. A large chest, made of wood and metal was buried in the dirt. Link immediately started to dig it out and Sky followed suit. Soon, it was uncovered, and what little light there was glinted off the polished metal edges.<br>Just then, there was a huge roar from beneath them, and the whole chasm quaked. Link took up his sword and jumped to his feet, ready. The ground crumbled away and they fell down further than they could have climbed. A creature circled them, huge and squishy with thick skin. For all the world it was an earth worm, but one with an enormous set of jaws at both ends of its body. Sky trembled at the kneed as she stood, back to back with Link.  
>"The thin skinned spot directly between the heads," he said to her "looks like our best bet. But if you can get past it, hide, hide somewhere safe, and leave it to me."<br>With that, he ran at the aforementioned weak spot and landed one solid hit before one of the heads reached around and grabbed him, pulling him off. Sky ran under the head as it lifted, to get out to the other side of the encircling worm and made her own attack on the weak spot. The creature reared up both heads in agony, it had not expected that. She watched from outside, as Link followed the sore point around as the worm continued to circle. Keeping in line with him, they attacked together, causing the beast too much confusion to grab either of them in either of its massively jawed, blind heads. It didn't take much more before the thing let its final cry rock the cave and it reared up and swayed. Before it fell, Sky spotted a small gap in the rock wall and curled up into it to avoid being crushed under the worm's giant corpse.  
>Link still stood in the centre of the room, as though transfixed by something.<p>

As the beast fell, so did the walls around him, it was a familiar illusion and one he had no desire to see. The rest of the world fell away as the foggy expanse appeared around him and he stood face to face with his own shadow.  
>"Hello Link", the dark form greeted him with a sickening smile and his red eyes flickered, "fancy meeting you here!"<br>Link drew his sword, ready to fight.  
>"There's no need for that, I'm not here, you can't touch me. This is an illusion. But I have a real form now, we will meet again. For a real fight, hand to Hand, face to face. The dark powers are rising, it gives me the strength to rise. Sorry, gives US the power to rise."<br>He was about to protest when the illusion vanished and he was back in the bottom of the deep cave.

Sky saw the illusion flicker in and out of view. Now that it was gone, she crawled out of the gap she'd taken shelter in and walked slowly over to Link. The twisted look on his face told her to snap him out of it, but for some reason she still felt it nessicary to creep slowly towards him in case of startling him. She laid a hand on his arm, and gently got his attention.  
>"Link? Are you alright?"<br>"Uh... yes. Sorry, just thought I saw something" he said, turning to her and forcing a smile, her warm hand was a nice reality check after the cold fog and her now familiar voice was soothing after the raw echo of the shadow's. "Nice work fighting that beast!" Sky smiled back at him, and turned to the chest that had fallen unopened with them.  
>"Lets open this thing then get out of here" she pulled at the lid and it wouldn't budge, "hnnng... I think it's locked" she said, crestfallen. Link felt along the edge of it as if looking for something, and then ultimately kicked the lid clean off, getting a startled cry from Sky.<br>"You're just too little" he teased with a genuine grin, and took the treasure out from inside.

They climbed back up out of the cave. Slowly but surely winding towards the light of the outside world. Stumbling out of the cave, the light blinded them for a few minutes.  
>"Lets see, what is this thing" Link pulled the treasure they'd found out of his bag to inspect it properly in the light.<br>"A telescope?" asked Sky. Link turned it over in his hands and looked through it.  
>"Yep! This is cool, I can see the coast from here" He handed it over to Sky, for her to see too "We should probably get going, to get there before sundown".<p>

The sun was starting to set over the horizon by the time the pair reached the shore. Orange and pink settled in the sky over the sea. The two took turns to look through the telescope and scout around for anything they could see.  
>"You have a GIANT EYE" Link laughed, looking at Sky's face through the telescope.<br>"Hey! Give that here" she grabbed it off him and looked through it the wrong way to make him appear tiny, "oooh, I'm a tiny little pixie-sized Link." She pretended to squash him with her thumb.  
>They both laughed childishly, Link enjoyed the company immensely. He was used to travelling alone, but now that he had someone to share the days with, the days themselves felt shorter and less exhausting. There was still a long way to go, and fights to be won, but times like these took his mind off it, and lightened the load. Sky handed the telescope back to Link and asked him;<br>"Is it true what they say about hylian boys?" with a cheeky grin and a sideways look.  
>He was taken aback by the question, having no knowledge of what it was that was said 'about hylian boys', or who had supposedly said it,<br>"I.. I don't know... what is it?" he asked dumbly.  
>"You've never heard? It's something kids used to say in school..."<br>Link looked at her awkwardly, he hadn't been part of a normal school or normal childhood. He explained this to Sky, but asked her to tell him anyway. He was genuinely interested, having missed such parts of growing up.  
>"well, you know, it's what they say about a Hylian's ears..." she continued, what had started off as a joke was turning awkward now that she knew Link had no idea what she was getting at, "they say ' the longer his ears are, the bigger...' well, you know". Link's eyes widened as he realised what she meant. Blushing a little, he laughed;<br>"Do they really say that?"  
>Sky's face flushed red, but she was indeed glad to hear him laugh with the good humour she'd hoped for.<br>"Yes they do, and I thought I'd ask if it was true!"  
>"Well, I'm not telling," he replied cheekily, nudging her. "You're full of surprises."<p>

A lone house stood on the edge of the sand. Link and Sky, tired from their walk, approached it in hopes of shelter for the night. 


	6. Chapter 6

Negative Forces 5

The Truth about the Triforce

The house by the sand was occupied by an old man who appeared to be sour and grouchy, but took the two in for the night regardless. He eyed them suspiciously, frowning at Link and avoiding eye contact with Sky despite obviously staring at her head. After some time had passed and darkness settled over the sky, the old man made some tea and asked what they were doing travelling so far from civilization so late in the day, without somewhere to stay.  
>"We're looking for an island. And the Hand of the Ocean" Link explained frankly, hoping the old man might know something about them. An aged, white eyebrow raised, accompanied by a dry cackle.<br>"You don't know what yer talking about, I suggest you both run on home before real trouble finds ye."  
>Sky prickled slightly at the dismissal, but was cut off before she could retort. Link explained in simple terms what their mission was, what they already knew, and what they still needed to know. The old man's face crinkled with worry.<br>"You pair are awful young for such a dangerous pursuit. But you say you already know about the four faeries?"  
>Sky and Link perked up, the man was taking them seriously now.<br>"Yer almost there, but for a few details. You know the shape of the triforce don't ya? Oc course ye do, everyone does. The three pieces represent Nyaru, Din and Farore, the three great faeries, or Power, Wisdom and Courage. However ye choose to look at it."  
>Link unconsciously rubbed the back of his hand and sat up straight to listen. Sky pulled out the parchment she had in her bag and readied herself to take notes of anything that could help them.<br>"History is written by the winners, and there are things folks aren't meant to know, for their own happiness. But you two need to hear the truth. Think again on the shape of the triforce, and the space in the centre of it. Ye see, in the beginning, there were four great faeries. All four pieces together created a solid triangle. The fourth faerie was stripped of her power and left to die, after trying to use the exact artefact you two are looking for, to become a sole eternal ruler."  
>Link and Sky looked at each other, as if to ensure they were both hearing the same story. Sky wanted to believe this was just the ramblings of an old man, but there was conviction in his raspy voice. Link obviously believed it completely, and looked nothing short of betrayed.<br>"Fire, Wind, Water and Earth," continued the old man, "the faerie of the earth created the mountains, and the old legends say she was buried deep under the earth she created, as was fitting for her after her death."  
>"Why isn't this in other books?" Sky interjected, seeing the obvious distress on Link's face was upsetting her, "there's THREE great faeries, and a TRI-force, everyone knows tha-..."<br>"NO," crowed the curmudgeon, slamming his teacup down on the table "like I said to ye, history is written by the winners. The fourth faerie was eradicated from the legends except in the small mountain villages where she was worshiped hundreds of years ago before she fell."  
>"How would you know? I'm from the mountains, and I've never heard of her!"<br>"Of course you haven't, yer too young little girl! My family moved to the coast from a tiny village by name of Sennohe more than 400 years ago. My own ancestors diaries are the records and proof of my tale."  
>Dumbstruck, Sky shut her mouth and stared wide-eyed at the old man, who pulled old tombes from his shelves and opened them in front of her and Link.<br>"Sorry" she whispered...  
>He grumbled to himself and looked to Link, who hadn't said a word.<br>"Nobody ever mentioned anything like that..." the boy in green said hollowly.  
>"That's what I'm tellin' ye. Some things are kept quiet like, for the greater good."<p>

Later, as they were supposed to be sleeping, Sky heard a gentle whisper in the dark,  
>"He said his family came from sennohe," Link turned on his side to face her, "do you really know nothing about the fourth faerie?"<br>"N..no. If I'd known anything I would have told you! Honestly I would"  
>He believed her, and nodded, before turning onto his back and falling asleep.<br>Sky didn't sleep much that night. She racked her brain for anything at all that she had been told or seen that could be to do with this new information. There was another song, another nursery rhyme, that she couldn't quite remember, and old books in the very back of the library that might have said something useful. If only she'd done more reading than playing around maybe she'd know more. No, that's not right, this information was kept from everyone, there's no way she could have found it by accident. Eventually she fell into a restless sleep.

Clouds covered the sky the next morning. Link took his sword and the telescope and set out along the coast to look for the island they'd come to find. Sky was prepared to go with him until the old man stopped her,  
>"you stay here, I'd like to talk to ye, mountain-folk to mountain-folk you know?" he assured Link she'd be quite safe, and he turned to Sky,<br>"See you when you get back then" She said confidently.  
>Link set off along the sand, periodically looking out to sea with the telescope. Clouds made the view difficult, but with time he was sure he'd find something.<br>Inside the old man's house, Sky was asked to sit down,  
>"your friend out there was mighty disturbed by the truth about the hole in the triforce," he began. Something about the way he said that rang a bell in the back of her mind. "he doesn't know we Sennohe folks are descended from her does he?"<br>Sky felt her blood run cold.  
>"What?"<br>"You didn't know either? The old legends really have been buried then. It's true girl, we're all part of the bloodline she started when she was stripped of her powers and left to wander her earthen mountains. Well, it's up to you to tell him or not, but I wouldn't expect a warm reception judging by the look on his face last night!"  
>Sky's heart sank. It was true enough, he hadn't been particularly friendly towards her since hearing the old man's story. But she didn't want to keep it from him either. Then again, the truth was often kept hidden, for the sake of other's happiness. The other thing clawing at her mind was the 'hole in the triforce', she'd heard that somewhere before.<br>"Where was she buried?" Sky asked the old man,  
>"The graveyard in the mountains, just beyond Kakariko village. Don't be fooled by its size, the surface is new, but the real tombs stretch out long and deep under the mountains. And they say she took a dragon, to protect her treasure even in death."<br>They looked at each other for a moment before the old man continued, "that's where you're headed isn't it?"  
>Sky nodded. It occurred to her where she'd heard of the hole in the triforce before too. From Link himself! She packed up her things, and what few of Link's things he'd left behind and left the old man's house. She stumbled across the sand, uneven footing and unbalanced weight slowing her down.<br>"LINK? LINK!" She called across the sands, and ran along the edge of the water until she could see him in the distance. He deftly deflected a rock, spat by a grotesque sea creature, turned to look towards her and waved.  
>"THE OWL. IT WASN'T THE WHOLE OF THE TRIFORCE, ITS THE HOLE OF THE TRIFORCE. THE HOLE IN THE MIDDLE, OR THE SPACE IN THE MIDDLE IS THE FOURTH FAERIE'S POWER, TAHTS WHAT IT MEANT!"<br>She cried across the sand, running breathlessly towards her friend, and collapsed to her knees in the sand in front of him. Her lungs burned from shouting. Link helped her back up to her feet and took his own equipment back from her to lighten the load on her back. It made sense, what she'd said about the whole, or rather, the hole of the triforce.  
>"So it's the fourth faerie's power that activates the immortality charm..." he looked at Sky's flushed face, her chest heaved from breathing so roughly, "how did you figure that out?"<br>"The old man, he told me. He also told me where she was buried... beneath the mountains, in the graveyard beyond Kakariko village... with her dragon."  
>They shared a look, as 'typical', ran through Link's mind. There's always something toothed and dangerous wherever he wanted to be going wasn't there?<br>"Let's go there then," he said confidently, "there's too much mist out there for the island to be seen today anyway. Better not to waste time, and come back later."

Kakariko village was in a sorry state compared to the way Link remembered it. He's last left it peaceful, and thriving. Now, the soldiers from the mountains had worked their way down and were patrolling the village regularly. Every few minutes, one would come into the village from the graveyard, do a full circuit of the place, and go back out among the headstones. This done, the next one would do the same. They would have to avoid them if they wanted to get through the village safely. At first it was simple enough, stay on the other side of town from the guard that was patrolling. But they walked fast, and soon caught up to them. Hearing the clank of armour, Link ducked out of sight as a guard passed him. He turned to Sky, and his heart skipped when he realised that she wasn't there.  
>He heard a tapping on something wooden, a little way along the street from where he was hiding and looked gingerly around to find its source. Sky was quite safe, out of sight, under a crate that had been left there.<br>'How?' he mouthed silently at her,  
>She pointed to a hole in the wall opposite him and made a wriggling motion with her hands that he took to mean there was a tunnel of some sort. He motioned to her to wait where she was and crawled into the gap she'd pointed out. There was a tiny alley, barely big enough to squeeze down, but completely out of sight. Sky met him at the far end of it, unfurling herself from the box she'd been under.<br>"Not bad little one,"  
>"The hard part will be getting through the graveyard won't it?" Sky asked shakily, already knowing the answer to that was yes.<br>The dark soldiers were everywhere. Up close like this, their true nature became more and more apparent. It wasn't so much their appearance that gave them away, but their smell. The putrid stink of rotten flesh against their steel armour hung in the air like a poisonous miasma. None of the soldiers were 'complete', for want of a better term, they all had bits missing. Some were missing arms or legs, some were missing just an eye or their lower jaw. Some were missing their skin. They shuffled around the graveyard, attacking anything that moved, even each other if their paths crossed, and otherwise dragged their sorry selves around and around the path ways. These soldiers were already dead.  
>"Is this the power of the fourth faerie?" Sky asked, in a choked voice. "Since she has fallen, her Immortality charm can easily be used for evil..."<br>"It must be," Link whispered back. He had a good idea of who was behind this too, and it made him sick to the stomach to think about it.  
>As quickly and quietly as possible, they crept between the headstones, keeping out of sight from the hideous undead soldiers. They followed a wildly erratic pattern, but a pattern none the less, which once worked out allowed the pair easier progress across the graveyard.<br>"I think this is it" said Sky suddenly, when the two were ducked between a tomb almost completely buried in the mountainside,  
>"you think so?" Link seemed surprised,<br>"yeah, look," Sky kicked the ground around them and it crumbled lightly. "It's all dry and cracked, and sinks down. There's nothing under here" she said, kicking it away chunk by chunk, as quietly as possible. Pausing only for a minute to stay still as a corpse in armour dragged past them, at such close proximity that the smell was almost unbearable. Sure enough, with a few more kicks at the ground, a stairway down under the mountain became apparent and they wasted no time ducking down inside, away from the creatures on the surface. The smell down here was not much better, and they hadn't done far before a blood curdling shriek split their ears and the very air around them. Sky froze in terror, the ghastly thing in front of them was nothing but a charred skeleton, and it was staggering towards her with its loose teeth chattering.  
>As quickly as it had appeared out of the darkness, it was in bits on the stone floor.<br>"Re-deads" said Link, having chopped the creature from behind "poor souls, horrible to fight. Stay close to me." He pulled Sky to his side and held on to her. She shook like an autumn leaf and the colour had drained completely from her face. The re-deads eyes would surely have sucked the soul right out of her body if Link had been even a moment later in killing it, or rather, re-killing it.  
>Sky held tightly to his right hand as they made their way deep under the mountain. The whole dungeon was a huge burial ground, tombstones of hundreds or even thousands of years old made up the floors and walls. The whole place was swarming with spirits, some malevolent and some kind, all disturbed.<br>"Duck!" Link pushed Sky's head down and she covered her eyes, hearing the same stomach-turning shriek as before. That wouldn't have been so bad, but it was the second, and the third similar cries that set her teeth on edge and made her shake uncontrollably. She was curled into a tight ball, hat over her eyes and ears when Link patted her shoulder and tried to gently ease her back to her feet.  
>"I hate this I hate this I hate this I hate this" she chanted to herself, utterly spooked. Link held her for a minute in the now empty room to calm her nerves.<br>"Come on, I've got your back, we can do this. We just need to get to the bottom of this dungeon, grab the treasure, and then we can leave as fast as we possibly can, okay?"  
>Sky nodded, pressed against his chest. She took a few deep breaths to try and stop the trembling and let go of Link's waist. They took each other's hands and plunged further on into the darkness. <p>


End file.
